Monday, Mar. 21, 1960
On Altruism
Sir:
I read "objectivist" Ayn Rand's anti-altruistic philosophy [Feb. 29] with a shudder of horror. Her whole idea of life is incredibly wrong. She seems an embittered, unfortunate woman who has never learned the joys of giving to other people, liking other people and being liked by them.
ARABELLE M. PARMET Bryn Mawr, Pa.
Sir:
In your report of my lecture at Yale University [Feb. 29], you alleged that I oppose the morality of altruism because it "leads to self-immolation, tolerance of the 'incompetent' common man, the welfare state, and ultimately to the slave labor camp." Nowhere in the text of my lecture will you find a phrase such as "tolerance of the 'incompetent' common man," or its equivalent, either in the context where you inserted it or in any other context. That phrase is a gross misrepresentation of my position.
I do not speak or think in such terms as "the common man." I leave such patronizing concepts to the liberals. If, by "common man," you meant the lower-income groups, I do not regard incompetence as the exclusive, collective attribute of any group or class, lower or upper. I am not a modern liberal or a Marxist. I do not pass collective judgments on individuals by any sort of group or class standards. The terms "competence" and "incompetence" denote how well or how badly one does one's job, in any profession, on any level of ability, in any income group.
I would never use so evasive an expression as "tolerance of the 'incompetent.'" It has no intelligible meaning. If you compare it to the precision with which I express my ideas, you will easily see that it does not belong to my style of speaking or thinking. If you were hinting that what I oppose is the sacrifice of the competent to the incompetent--you don't have to hint; this is what I hereby request that you put me on the record as saying: I oppose the sacrifice of the competent to the incompetent and of any man to any other man.
As to the rest of your report, the direct quotes were selected perceptively and fairly, but I regret that the editorial slant contradicts their meaning and sets up a straw man by equating me with Herbert Spencer. If you wish to refute me, you will not do so by refuting Spencer (or Nietzsche, or Epicurus or Robert A. Taft). Their philosophies are not mine.
AYN RAND
New York City
Sir:
As long as Ayn Rand insists on the premise that ego liberates rather than obliterates ultimate truth and reason, she will, unfortunately, continue to arrive at her misguided conclusions based on half-truths.
MRS. DAVID GENTRY Glendale, Calif.
Tears for Injun Joe
Sir:
Your story on Caryl Chessman [Feb. 29] brought to mind Mark Twain's comments in Tom Sawyer: "The petition [for Injun Joe's pardon] had been largely signed; many tearful and eloquent meetings had been held, and a committee of sappy women been appointed to go in deep mourning and wail around the Governor, and implore him to be a merciful ass and trample his duty under foot. Injun Joe was believed to have killed five citizens of the village, but what of that? If he had been Satan himself, there would have been plenty of weaklings ready to scribble their names to a pardon petition, and drip a tear on it from their permanently impaired and leaky waterworks."
LAWRENCE DE FOY Los Angeles
Sir:
Perhaps we should grant Caryl Chessman a full pardon and deport him to Uruguay, or Brazil, or the Vatican, or London, where he is more fully appreciated. Perhaps they would like to have Governor Brown also.
VERNON W. WHIPPLE Fresno, Calif.
Sir:
"Selfstyled descendant of famed Poet John Greenleaf Whittier," Caryl Chessman is not only a criminal but also a phony. John Greenleaf Whittier never married, and therefore no one would ever believe that he left any descendants.
HELEN WHITTIER Gardner, Mass.
P: Like Reader Whittier, variously removed cousins abound. There are no direct descendants.--ED.
Frustration at Squaw Valley
Sir:
Couples who went to the Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley [Feb. 29] found that, after paying $2 to park their cars about a mile from the area, another $15 at the entrance gate, they got to see very little. They could see the opening and closing ceremonies, the championship figure skaters and hockey players perform their brilliant best, only if they had an extra $50. We weren't even allowed to drown our frustrations at the lovely bar in the main lodge--that also being closed to all but officials and season-ticket holders. We gave up and went home to be greeted by the TV announcer saying that "officials just couldn't understand why this Winter Olympics was drawing such meager crowds!"
CAROLYN KIRBY
San Jose, Calif.
Religious Persuasion
Sir:
Oh, come now. With religion tipping the balance in the coming presidential election, how could you neglect mention of Pat Nixon's persuasion in an otherwise very good article [Feb. 29]? In what religion was she baptized and what religion does she and her family now profess?
ROBERT CARSON Little Rock, Ark.
P: Mrs. Nixon does not know whether she was ever baptized, attended a Methodist church as a child, joined her husband's Whittier (Calif.) Friends Church, to which she still belongs, although the family now attends Metropolitan Memorial Methodist church in Washington.--ED.
Pamphleteering Sir:
I know you won't print this letter anyway, so I won't bother being polite. Your article on that Air Force pamphlet against Communism [Feb. 29] was very distressing.
You seemed to cut down the Air Force as though you yourselves were Commies. Let me remind you that the Communist plan for subversive tactics thrives on well-respected front organizations. What better front than a church?
M. O'HARA South Bend, Ind.
Sir:
I would like to commend you on the fine and enlightening article, "Birdbrained." Though one may not agree with all that the National Council of Churches of Christ does, to infer that it or the Revised Standard Version of the Bible is Communist is, as your article well pointed out, silly.
TOM WILBANKS
Western Theological Seminary Pittsburgh
The Good Old Days
Sir:
Your review of Nina Epton's Love and the French [Feb. 22] mentions ladies of that nation in the 14th and 15th centuries who were able to stand candlesticks on their high-Laced bosoms.
I have a near-octogenarian friend who maintains that when he lived in the Sydney suburb of Balmain as a youngster, he was fascinated by the family's female servant.
This well-endowed young woman, when preparing to meet her beau, would stand the candlestick on the said protuberances whilst combing her hair. In those days, both skirts and hair were long, and, apparently, other statistics were in like proportion. At any rate, my old friend refers to them as the good old days.
IAIN MCDOUGALL
Sydney, New South Wales
A Breakdown
Sir:
Your "Anatomy of the Electorate" [Feb. 29] has further convinced me that the older, wiser and more educated a person becomes, the more inclined he is toward the philosophy of Republicanism.
CHARLINE ATKINS Denver
Sir:
The minority Republican Party cannot reverse the trend of its decreasing percentage of the total registration unless it changes its name. As a former Republican State Central Committee chairman (California, 1950), my experience and observation have convinced me that an indestructible prejudice against Republicanism is deeprooted. The Democrats' propaganda has placed a label of big business and selfish interest on their opposition party, while selling themselves as the only champion of social welfare and prosperity. This false impression is a dishonest appraisal of the differentiation between the parties' principles and accomplishments--but it sticks.
I do not advocate a third party, but a coalition of voters with common convictions, men and women of both major parties joined together under a new banner, balanced against the remaining left wing of the Democratic Party.
PHILIP L. BOYD Riverside, Calif.
Sir:
Regarding your article, "Anatomy of the Electorate," could you give me the breakdown on religion, comparing North and South ?
JIM DUNHAM Findlay, Ohio
P: There are about 24.6 million Protestants in the South, 5.1 million Roman Catholics and 395,000 Jews. In the West, the figures go 6.1 million, 5.1 million and 494,000. For the rest of the country, the breakdown runs 30 million, 28.7 million, 4.4 million.--ED.
Understanding a Problem
Sir:
You have performed a distinct public service in presenting "The Race to College" [Mar. 7]. This is a forceful presentation of conditions as they are. TIME'S prestige and wide circulation will bring the situation to the attention of many parents and pupils who need to understand it.
ROBERT W. COPE
Supervising Principal Schwenksville Union School District
Schwenksville, Pa.
Sir:
You state that despite its excellent advanced program, Andover can only squeeze 43% of its students into the "Big Three." Andover is not attempting such squeezing at all. The dean has made great attempts to put students into schools where they will derive the greatest benefit. Two of our Merit Scholarship winners, certainly outstanding students, chose from the 44 other colleges, because they believed they could derive more from them. A big-name school, as you report, is by no means an assurance of the best education, even for a good student.
GEORGE PIDOT JR.
Princeton University Princeton, NJ.
Sir:
Rather than Haverford being "a sort of pocket Harvard," as you state, Harvard has long been a sort of gargantuan Haverford.
STEPHEN S. SMITH
Haverford College Haverford, Pa.
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